


Self-defense

by insectothopter (ollipop)



Category: Almost Human
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-13
Updated: 2013-12-13
Packaged: 2018-01-04 12:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1080939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ollipop/pseuds/insectothopter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maldonado debriefs Kennex after "The Bends".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Self-defense

**Author's Note:**

> I tried not to write this, I really did. But I kept waiting for this scene in the next episode, and I didn't get it. In my head, Sandra Maldonado is a real stickler for the rules.

“John, I need to speak to you privately.” Maldonado seemed to appear from nowhere at the edge of Kennex’s desk, blinking down at him like an angry owl. 

Kennex rolled his eyes. The evening at McQuade’s had gone much more smoothly than he’d anticipated, with the application of enough bourbon. He’d be paying for it for the next day and a half. “I’m all full up on cases, Cap’n. Let’s give this one to Rudy, shall we?”

Maldonado glared at him and slapped a stack of files down on his already-cluttered desk. “NOW, Lieutenant. And you can finish these—” she glared at the files—“when you come back, assuming you’ve gotten your hangover under control by then.” 

The detective stood, swaying slightly on his good leg, before following Maldonado back to the conference room. 

Maldonado paused at the door to let him enter first, and Kennex gave her a sidelong glare as he passed. “What’s this about?”

“This is about why you staggered in two hours late and haven’t gotten me that after-action report from last night’s operation,” she barked at him. As the door closed, the tenor of her voice changed entirely, to something more resigned. “Sit down, John.” 

He stared at her as he settled worriedly into his chair. “I worked on it at home and sent it to you by 10 am. You _knew_ where I was. What’s this really about?”

“John, your report…” Captain Maldonado began, clenching her fists, stopped. She steepled her fingers and tried again. “John, this morning you sent me a report saying that you were attacked by Barros, were knocked backward by him, and fired three shots in self-defense.” She pulled up the report and stared blankly at it for a moment, then swiped past Kennex’s notes and called up a different file. “An hour ago, I got a ballistics report on Barros’s body. It gives a report that two shots were fired from 7-10 feet away, with the suspect standing, and another shot fired from above at less than three feet as he was leaning against a wall.” 

Kennex had been looking at her, eyes narrowed; now, he turned his gaze over her left shoulder and pursed his lips impatiently. 

“They’re all from your weapon, which is at least consistent with your report.”

No response.

“Did you run into anyone else down there?”

“No.” 

“So you fired two shots, stood up, and fired a third time.” 

“Yes.” 

“Goddamn it, were you still drunk when you filed this report? What are you hiding from me here?”

“Just trying to keep the report concise. Ma’am.” Kennex looked sullen as pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Don’t bullshit me, John.” Captain Maldonado paused. “Was the suspect already disabled when you shot him the third time?”

“Yes.”

Maldonado closed her eyes and tipped her head towards the sky in exasperation. “John,” she said warningly.

“I wasn’t sure. He might have still been a risk.” His chin was raised in defiance. “Stranger things have happened.”

“Better. Did he have a weapon in his hands?”

“Yes.”

“Was he aiming it at you?”

She tipped her head back towards him; he was meeting her eyes now, but his lips were pressed tightly together. “Detective, did you feel that the suspect remained a clear and present threat to you when you fired your third shot?”

“Absolutely.”

Captain Maldonado rested her forehead in the heels of her hands. “John, when I read this ballistics report, I came to the obviously incorrect assumption that you fired a killing shot, instead of restraining this suspect and waiting for backup. Now, I know that couldn’t have been what happened, because if it was, I would have to arrest you and begin an internal investigation. Which will be a challenge for me, because—” she turned back to Kennex’s report on her vid screen— “I don’t have your after-action report which adequately explains this evidence.” She stabbed the screen and deleted the file. “And, as we know, the evidence never tells the full story.”

Kennex closed his eyes for a long moment, then opened them back up as he drew in closer with his elbows on his knees. “If Barros had lived, even assuming he’d gone to trial… the Force would have been devastated. The entire Vice department would be crippled, more than they are today. We’d have our hands tied to chairs by the IA division, and whatever new cook the Bishop’s forces found would have all that material processed and on the street before we could regroup. Any middle schooler would be able to get his hands on The Bends. This is _better_ , Captain.”

“You don’t get to make that call, Kennex. _Never,_ ” she hissed at him. The rage in her voice made Kennex flinch. “John, we track the criminals. We collect evidence and submit it to a court of law. Cops don’t decide punishment.”

“Cops also drop charges and cut deals. And cops defend themselves when they’re stuck in basements with thugs.” Kennex crossed his arms and looked away. “Do you want me to write that he was planning to shoot me? He said that he would take me down just like he did with Cooper, that there would be a mistrial, basically that he didn’t need to bother with shooting me. But yeah, he had a gun in his hand.”

“He trusted you not to fire first.” Captain Maldonado closed her eyes and breathed out a long, hopeless sigh. “John… I’m sorry.”

“Are you going to start that investigation now?”

“No. Just make your report match this one.”

They sat in silence together for a long moment, their eyes fixed on the ballistics report. 

“John?”

“Yeah?”

“Dismissed.”

He shook his head as if to clear it, then slapped his hands down on the arms of the chair and rose to leave. “I’ll just go re-do that paperwork. Pleasure doing business with you.” 

As he opened the door, he heard Maldonado’s voice calling too loudly: “I want that report by five today, Detective.”

“Yes ma’am,” he muttered. He headed back to his desk he felt, rather than heard, the squeak in his artificial leg.


End file.
